Percy Jackson and the mercenaries
by Drakothiem
Summary: On his quest to retrieve the lightning bolt, Percy runs into a mysterious group that seems to know a lot about him and his quest, but he knows absolutely nothing about them. Who are they? How come Artemis keeps showing up? And what is this about a prophecy? In order for Percy to find out he must fulfill both of the great prophecies, and complete an ancient prophecy.
1. Chapter I

AN. Hi guys, this will be my first fanfic ever, so please give me some grace for grammar/ spelling errors. I'm not exactly sure what the pairing will be so I will see if I can start a poll on who it will end up being, as of right now the options are: Percy/Artemis, Percy/Zoe, Percy/Thalia or maybe a combo there of, most of this will be cannon but somethings won' be, as there will be some of my own oc's and they will be helping out throughout the series.

Anyways enough of me rambling; on to the story. I do not own Percy Jackson nor any affiliated works, the only thing I own is my oc's.

Olympus, the home of the gods. Floating at 6,000 feet above the empire state building; it is a wonderful place, full of beautiful gardens and palaces of breathtaking architecture, the sounds of music and laughter ring throughout the city but not today, for there is a heaviness to the air, a sense of foreboding, Zeus' master bolt has been stolen, the best hunters are sent to find it, but when they failed Zeus decided to hire some mercenaries to find his bolt and bring the thief to Olympus, dead or alive.

My name is Drakothiem, I am a mercenary currently in the employ of Olympus to help find Zeus' master bolt, and bring the thief to justice, but when the young Perseus Jackson was accused of being the thief I hesitated, I knew he didn't do it because I had been watching him, I had my orders but I also knew that Zeus would kill him without any hesitation, and I couldn't let that happen as that would go against my previous orders so I had to go and see this young Perseus and either help him clear his name orkeep him safe from Zeus' wrath.

Chapter one:

A Helping hand

 _This sucks,_ I thought to myself, _here I am stuck on this quest trying to retrieve an object I never stole, to give back to someone I've never met, and if I fail there will be a war, this is fantastic. "_ Hey Percy, how are holding up?" Grover asked, "Fine, let's just keep moving," I told him. We kept moving west; we had just finished killing Medusa, and we were cold, tired and overall feeling miserable, when all of a sudden I heard a twig snap,I started to pull Riptide out but then Annabeth appeared and yelled at me "Hey seaweed brain, keep up will you?" "Yeah I'll be right there," I yelled back, I kept moving but I kept my hand on Riptide, I had a feeling that I would need it soon.

We kept walking for a couple more hours, and we decided to take a short rest. Annabeth and Grover both slumped against the trees but I didn't relax as I still had that feeling of being watched. Grover must have noticed how tense I was as he asked "Hey Percy, are you okay bro? You look tense - are you still feeling the aftermath of dealing with Medusa?". "I..." I didn't know how to explain it to them, if they didn't believe me they might think that I was crazy, but I decided to tell them anyway. "Now don't panic, but I think that we are being followed."

"What makes you think that Percy?" asked Annabeth. "I just have this uneasy feeling, like I am being watched". Grover immediately sat up and began to sniff, "I don't smell any monsters." he said, "But there is a scent that doesn't belong to any of us".

"Your friend has a very good nose."

I pulled Riptide out and took a swing at the voice, but my blade never made it as it was intercepted by a black knife, "Whoa there kid, truce. I don't mean you guys any harm, if I wanted to hurt you guys I would've done it a while ago." He stepped back and raised his hands, I kept Riptide aimed at him and he sighed, "Look kid I would suggest lowering your weapon, as I don't want you to get hurt."

"What, 3 versus 1? We out number you." Annabeth said, he then snapped his fingers and about a dozen guys appeared next to us with rifles aiming at us. "As I said kid, lower your weapon". We had no choice, by the time I could swing my sword at this guy's head we would be full of bullets. I lowered my sword, "Fine" I said. "What's your name kid?" "You tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine" I replied. He chuckled, "Fair enough kid" And he stepped out of the bush , he was around 6 feet tall and had broad shoulders, he was wearing camouflage pants and jacket with one of those military black vests with all the pouches hanging off of it and a knife on his left shoulder, he had two holsters on his legs complete with pistols, he had armoured elbow and knee pads and he was wearing a green military helmet "My name is Drakothiem, well technically it's LT Drakothiem of the Freelancer corp. but most just call me Drako or LT."

I said, "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. And this is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and Grover Underwood, satyr".

"Hmmm. And let me guess, you guys are on a quest to retrieve Zeus' master bolt, am I correct?"

"How do you know that?" Annabeth asked.

"I know lots of things, like how many times Percy has been kicked out of school, what are you up to now like six? Exactly where he was when the bolt was stolen and I know where he lives."

"How do you know that?" I stammered.

"I've been watching you for a very long time Percy, most of your life in fact; it was a favour and a contract to your father. He wanted someone to watch over you and protect you from the dangers of this world, and since I owed him a favor I fit the bill. However, my newest mission is to find the thief and bring him to Olympus dead or alive." "And that means that I am supposed to bring you to Olympus, however I know that you aren't the thief so I will let you go" I felt relived this guy wasn't going to arrest me. "Now I wouldn't recommend going north of here, I would go south and keep going west" Said Drako "And why is that?" Annabeth asked "I cannot say" He replied "Will you be coming with us?" I blurted out "No" "And why not?" "Because I have been sent on another mission, now I have to go but, I want you to have something" He handed me what appeared to be a coin. "If you ever need help insert this into any ATM machine and help will come"

"Now I best be off, good luck and good hunting" And after those last few words they left and there was no indication that they were ever there.

After they left Annabeth said "Well, that was interesting" "It was, wasn't it?" Said Grover "Yeah" I said "Real interesting"

"What did he mean by watching you Percy?" Asked Annabeth

"I don't know"

"Have you ever seen him before?"

"I'm not sure" At this point in time she was facing me

"What do you mean you're not sure?"

"Look I don't expect to remember every single face I see, okay?"

"Well I would expect you to remember that on"

"Well…"

"Guys" Said Grover

"What?" We both said to him. He pointed behind us, we both turned around slowly and right behind us was a shadow like creature with glowing red eyes and fangs, "Hellhound" We whispered

AN Hey guys I know that this chapter was really short but they will get longer as I warm up my writing ability. I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter.

I am currently looking for a beta, I want someone who has written some stories of their own to beta my story for me and to also give some feed back on my ideas, and to see if they can contribute to the story as a whole.

Sorry for the cliff hanger but I couldn't find another way to end the story. Thanks for reading and I wish blessings on you all.

I am also bad at summary's

Rated M For violence and because I am paranoid

Poll started on my profile for pairings


	2. Chapter II

So sorry about not updating soon but life got in the way as it normally does

AN. Hi guys, this is the second chapter to my first fanfic, I hope you guys enjoy.

I have started a poll on who the pairing should be

I do not own Percy Jackson nor any affiliated works, the only things I own are my oc's

Chapter 2 We encounter the moon

We stood there, staring at this monster in a bit of fear. I've almost been killed by one at camp, and I didn't want a repeat of what happened.

"Distract it for me" Whispered Annabeth "I'll sneak around it invisibly and attack it from behind"

"Right, I've got this" I said back to her.

She put on her magic Yankees cap and disappeared, where as I had a much more difficult job, trying to keep it distracted long enough for Annabeth to get into position but also to stay alive.

I uncapped Riptide and charged at the monster, it started to growl and then it leaped at me claws ready to slice me into confetti. I ducked under its swipe and slashed wildly upwards with Riptide, I felt a slight resistance and heard a yelp, and I turned to face the monster. I Noticed that it was now limping, I must've hit one of its legs. It glared at me with a mixture of both pain and hate, I take that it didn't like what I did but just as it got ready to leap at me again Grover played some notes on his pipes, however it seemed to drain him to much and he collapsed, but all of a sudden the grass began to grow and wrap itself around the monsters legs stopping it from being able to attack me, it began to claw at the new restraints but before it could escape, a bronze knife appeared in its neck and it dissolved into dust.

Annabeth stood right beside it, a little shaken but alive, however before we could celebrate another growl pierced the darkness, and a black shadow began to leap at Annabeth but I ran and tackled her to the ground just as the monster would've gotten her, however it managed to get me instead, I felt razor sharp claws rake my back and I didn't feel much pain. Annabeth pushed me off of her and attempted to stand up but when she did she hissed in pain when her right foot hit the ground, I must've hurt it when I tackled her, I attempted to stand but when I got to my feet I felt ready to fall over, but I manged to keep standing and face this monster. " _Great"_ I thought " _It took all three of us to take down the first one, and now two of us are injured and one is unconscious, this is going swell"_

Just as I thought we were done for, a hunting horn sounded close by, and the monster raised its head and it looked like it was hesitating, but it seemed to make up its mind and charged but before it could get to us three things happened, I managed to step forward in front of Annabeth, a few silver arrows came out of the trees, and some young girls wearing all silver and holding bows seemed to have appeared from the trees.

And in less then a second the monster was dead, but I didn't feel any less safe, in fact I felt more safe with the hellhound then with these girls who all seemed to be pointing their bows at me now.

One of the girls stepped forward, she looked like a persian princess, with volcanic coloured eyes and a silver circlet in her hair. "Who are you boy?" she spat. Before I could say anything Annabeth stood up as best she could and bowed. "My name is Annabeth daughter of Athena, this is Percy son of Poseidon, and the satyr is Grover. We are on a quest my lady"

I wondered who she was bowing to, as it looked like she was bowing to a twelve year old girl.

"Please, you do not have to bow" The girl said. "And Zoe, please put down your bow, it won't be needed".

"But my lady, he is a boy"

"Hey" I didn't know what her problem was, but I didn't like her attitude.

"Percy". Annabeth warned. "These are the Hunters, show some respect".

"Hunters?" I asked

"They are my Hunters" The girl said.

"And who are you?" I asked

"How dare you show such disrespect" The girl, err Zoe said, and she aimed her bow at me.

"Wait" The girl said "I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and these are my Hunters".

I said something really intelligent like. "Okay"

Zoe scoffed at my response, "Typical, stupid male". I heard her mutter.

Now I would've normally said something stupid as a retort, but I could already feel my adrenaline starting to run out, and I was starting to feel tired. I started to feel the pain on my back. I became unsteady on my feet, I dropped my sword and began to fall, Annabeth did try to stop me from falling but as soon as she put her left foot on the ground and tried to move, it gave out on her, she started to fall but one of the Hunters stopped her from falling, but I wasn't so lucky, I ended up landing on my face.

When I hit the ground I heard a gasp, and my back felt extremely wet, and warm. "Percy" I heard Annabeth call my name. I tried to respond but I didn't have the strength to do so. I heard someone to my left say "Here, drink this, you have lost a lot of blood" A straw was put into my mouth, I tried to to drink it but I couldn't, I couldn't even make a reply. "My lady, he is not responsive" I heard someone say

"Set up the medical tent" Another voice said

I heard Annbeth's voice say to me. "Stay with me Percy, can you hear me? Just stay with me"

And that was the last thing I heard before I fell into darkness.

 **An.** Hey guys, once again sorry for the long update. I am not sure if this chapter is as well written as my previous one, but I kinda rushed this chapter so I could just get one out to keep you guys entertained.

This was my first time writing a battle sequence, and I want to know how I did, please tell me if I need to change it, and if I do how. I don't want someone telling me they don't like the way I wrote it, and not be able to tell me why they don't like it. Flames will be deleted.

I am still looking for a beta, if you are interested please PM me, however there are some requirements, you must have written at least one finished story, and it must have been semi decent-well written.

Please vote on the pairing. (my personal vote is for all 3) but feel free to choose.

And please review.

Blessings to all my readers, and to my American readers, happy thanksgiving.

Sorry if this chapter was a bit short, but I never got much time to write this week.

I will update this, but it will not be weekly, it most likely will be either bi-weekly or once a month.


	3. Chapter III

guys, here is the next chapter for my story, and I hope you guys enjoy.

Fixed some grammar mistakes

Hey guys sorry I am late with this update, but I was busy during the holidays due to an unexpected funeral, business meetings, and prepping for the holidays. I am also suffering some writers block right now so if this chapter isn't up to standards, I apologize.

Hey guys thanks for all of the follows and favorites, it really means a lot to me. I am so surprised by the amount of people who actually liked this story.

I will be changing some story line stuff here quite heavily, mostly in terms of companions, the events will be mostly the same, with the added character doing background stuff.

Hope you guys enjoy.

 **Chapter 3**

 **A new companion**

I dreamed that I was in a city, but I couldn't tell which city. I heard the sounds of a battle being waged in the distance, so I decided to approach it. As I got closer the sounds got clearer. I heard the sound of monsters roaring, the staccato sounds of gunfire, and the occasional shouting of voices.

When I finally manged to see what was going on, it didn't look good, there were quite a few piles of golden dust, but as I got closer I saw that there were some bodies, they were human. I didn't stop to take a look, as the sounds were so close now it sounded like I was standing in the middle of the battle, but I couldn't see exactly where it was. I happened to notice that there was an open area in between two buildings, so I walked in between them and into a war zone.

To my right was a large group of monsters. It was a mixture of hellhounds, some giant creatures with only one eye, some snake legged women, and one multi headed snake thingy.

To my left were some human soldiers who looked a little worse for wear, but they appeared to be holding their own against the monsters.

I heard a familiar voice coming from the soldier's side of the clearing, shouting "Hold the line, stay together." I looked over to see who it was. It was the Lt. I decided to get behind their line so I could hear what was going on.

"Those cyclopies, don't go down, they just keep coming." I heard someone shout. "Concentrate your fire until they drop", Lt replied. "Man down!" someone shouted, "Medic" yelled a second voice,

"Incoming" yelled a third voice, "Take cover" the Lt yelled. I looked up and saw this object billowing green fire in its wake flying towards us, it landed with a deafening explosion. And my dream ended.

I woke up in a silver..uh tent? I honestly didn't know where I was, or how I got there. I heard a girls voice from my left say "Well, the sleeper awakes." I looked to my left and saw a girl with blonde hair. "Annabeth! What happened?" I asked her, "I don't remember much after we met the hunters."

She took a moment to respond "You collapsed soon after we found the hunters, they saw that you were injured so they setup camp and took you into the infirmary, and then they healed you. Some of the Hunters didn't want to help a boy, but the Lady Artemis told them to."

"I guess I should thank her then".

"Indeed you should boy" a new voice said. I turned towards the voice and I saw a girl with black hair, volcanic eyes and a silver circlet in her hair. I think her name was Zoe? Hey I was bad at names okay? "Thank you for helping me Zoe", I said while giving her a slight bow. She looked surprised that I had showed her that much respect, but she covered up her surprise with anger. "I hope thou was worth it demigod," she all but snarled at me. She then turned and left the tent.

"Well, that was interesting", I said.

"She looked like she wanted to kill you Percy."

"What is the problem here? I do not understand why they hate me so much."

"It's because you are a boy Percy."

"Why should that matter Annabeth?"

"Because-" She got cut off when a girl entered the tent. It was Zoe, and she was glaring daggers at me.

"Milady wants to see thee", she said tersely.

"Why?"

"It is in thou's best interests not to test me", she warned.

"Lead the way", I said, as she turned and exited the tent. I followed her with Annabeth close behind.

As she was leading us out I tried asking her some questions, but she mostly ignored me.

"How long was I out?"

"Only a few hours, thou healed extremely fast, even with thy nectar and ambrosia thou should not be awake yet."

"How did I survive?"

"Thou should not have survived, but with our best healer, some nectar and ambrosia, you did."

Along the way I saw many young girls wearing the hunters garb, some were practicing archery, others were resting by the camp fire, but they all glared at me when they saw me. I got the feeling that some of them wanted to shoot me with arrows, I also noticed that Annabeth was no longer limping, so the hunters must have healed her foot.

Zoe finally stopped in front of the largest tent which was located at the center of the camp.

Zoe told Annabeth to wait outside. Annabeth protested, but I told her I would be okay. Zoe led me inside, and it wasn't what I was expecting. It was larger on the inside, and there were so many pelts, tigers, bears, foxes, and tons more that I didn't recognize. I kept on gazing around until I found myself looking at a young girl.

She was wearing all silver like the rest of hunters, she had auburn hair and bright silver eyes, she also had a slight silvery aura, so I knew that she must be the Goddess Artemis.

I bowed low and said "Lady Artemis"

She nodded "Indeed young demigod, most do not recognize me when they first see me. How did you know? I do not think that Zoe here told you"

I hesitated to answer, I wasn't sure if she would consider it rude for me to have noticed.

"Well?" She asked.

"Your hunters have a slight silvery glow about them, and yours was slightly brighter, and also since Zoe told me that I would be seeing her leader, I put the pieces together"

She raised her eyebrow "Interesting, not many people can pick up on that boy, even some of my hunters can't do that. Where did you learn to do this boy?"

"Pardon?"

"You heard me boy. Who taught how to do this?" she said. starting to sound annoyed.

"I don't know, I just notice things."

"You are lying boy, like all men do, lying to protect yourself, tell Milady the truth" Zoe growled.

"I am telling the truth! Being observant has kept me alive. It has..." I stopped because I didn't want to say the other reason I am so observant.

"It has what?" Artemis asked.

"Nothing I wish to talk about. Your goddessness?"

"'Lady Artemis' is fine boy."

Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Please answer the question boy."

"It isn't important."

"Very well."

"But Milady!" Zoe began, but Artemis cut her off, saying "He has been through a lot, and we must let him return to his quest."

Oh, right the quest! I had almost forgotten why I was out here.

"Is there anything you can do to help me with my quest?"

"No, you must succeed or fail on your own."

"Zoe, I wish to speak to the companion accompanying this boy, as well."

"A… as you wish, Milady" She gave me a harsh glare as she went to grab Annabeth.

Zoe returned with Annabeth in tow.

"What would you like to talk about, Lady Artemis?" Annabeth asked.

"How did you and this boy get into this situation?"

Annabeth started to tell her the events, she told them everything, from my parentage, the nature of our quest to how we had met medusa and killed her, and the two hellhounds that ambushed us. It took her a few minutes to finish the story.

When she finished, both Zoe and Artemis had strange expressions. It looked like worry, but there was something else there, and I couldn't place it.

"Based on your story, it would appear to be prudent to catch up with the Freelancers, as they might need help. Annabeth mentioned something about you being given a coin. May I see it?"I reluctantly nodded. The goddess sighed.

"The freelancers do not give these coins out to anyone Perseus Jackson." I flinched when she said my full name.

"It means that they expect you to run into trouble during this quest, and if you fail there will be war, and I will not let war happen on my watch. So I will assign someone to join you, someone who I trust will keep you safe."

"Milady?" Zoe asked?

"Yes Zoe, I will assign one of the hunters to escort them to their destination."

"But Milady, who would you assign?"

"You, I am assigning you Zoe to escort them until they get to their destination."

AN

Okay guys here is the much awaited 3rd chapter, I rewrote this half a dozen times and this was the end result, hope you enjoyed.

As I am sure you guys are aware I am still looking for a beta, if you are willing to be my beta please send me a private message.

And so the poll is still going, until the next chapter, but here are the votes so far

at #1 with 13 votes is, all three (guest voted for this in comments)

at #2 with 9 is Zoe and Artemis,

at #3 with 7 is Thalia and Artemis

at #4 with 4 is Artemis

at #5 with 3 is Zoe

at #6 also with 3 is Zoe and Thalia

and finally at #7 with 2 votes is Thalia

so remember you have at least a month to still vote.

A special shout out to Sithdoom for being my first review.

I might end up needing some OC's to fill up the mercenaries ranks, if you have any ideas send them to me and I'll see if I can add them to the story, you will get full credit for them. PM me for rules and details.


	4. Chapter IV

Disclaimer. I do not own Percy Jackson or any affiliated works. Only thing I own is my computer and my OC's.

Hi guys, its me once again, I apologize for chapter IV being late.

I have been quite busy as of late.

If you have any ideas about how this story should go, please send me a private message.

Chapter IV

I become a wanted terrorist

Zoe looked at Artemis like she had grown a second head. "Milady? You want me to accompany this boy on his quest?"

"Yes that is correct Zoe, I know you don't like it, but it is necessary. If we could help prevent a war among the gods, wouldn't you help?"

"I...I guess I would Milady." Zoe said while glaring at me.

"Therefore, I will send you with the quest."

"Boy, I wish to talk to you before you leave"

"Ill be waiting outside for you." Annabeth said, leaving the tent.

"I trust that you will behave yourself on this quest boy."

"What do you mean Lady Artemis?"

"You know very well what I mean, that you will not in any way talk to Zoe or any other girls in a disrespectful way, nor look at them funny."

I stared at her blankly.

"Do you mean like the way my step dad treated my mom and myself?" I muttered to myself.

"What was that boy?"

"Nothing mMilady."

"Well then, I shall give you some supplies, and then I will send you off."

"Thank you Milady."

After that I was sent out and Artemis told us to wait here for a few minutes, as she and Zoe, talked for a few minutes.

I wanted to talk to Annabeth and Grover but I kept silent as some hunters were standing a few feet away glaring at me, and I didn't fancy getting shot with an arrow.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Zoe and Artemis came out of the tent, Zoe looked defiant, and Artemis had a stern look on her face.

I got the feeling that Zoe wasn't happy about something that had been said to her.

"Zoe will lead you to the supply tent and help you resupply" Artemis said to us.

"Right this way" Was Zoe's reply, as she gave a me a withering glare.

We followed her to a large tent, and we went in.

Inside there were buckets full of arrows. Bows, hunting knives and various other sharp weapons were hung on the left wall. Along the wall on the right were what looked like little silver squares about the size of a post it note, and along side those were small packs, and packets of something that I assumed were rations.

Zoe grabbed a pack and told us to each grab one, as well as to grab one of the silver squares, and a weeks worth of rations.

"How many packets are a weeks worth of rations?" Annbeth asked

"21" Zoe replied

"Why are we grabbing these silver squares" I asked

"Well unless thou prefers to sleep outside without shelter." Zoe snapped at me.

"Ummm." I said, as that really didn't answer my question.

"Percy" Annbeth said, "just grab one".

I decided to follow her advice.

After a few more minutes of gathering food and some medical supplies, we also grabbed some drachmas and cash.

Just as we were about to depart Artemis came up to us.

"I wish you good luck on your quest, and may the fates be on your side" Artemis said.

"Thank thee kindly Milady" Zoe responded.

Annabeth, Grover and I all said thanks as well.

And with that we left the camp.

"So" I said "Any idea where we should be going?"

"Percy, you are the leader of this quest, you lead us." Annabeth responded.

"Typical lost boy." Zoe muttered.

"I am asking for advice as I have no idea what do to."

"Oh." was all Annabeth responded with.

"Which direction does thou wish to take?" Zoe asked.

"West." Annabeth responded.

"How far west does thou need to go?" Zoe asked

"L.A." Annabeth said.

"Well, thou could take a train" Zoe responded.

Annabeth hesitated, then she looked at me. "Its ultimately Percy's choice, as this quest was given to him."

They all looked at me expecting an answer.

"Where is the nearest train station?" I asked.

"Follow me." Zoe said.

We made it to the train station without any issues.

We bought tickets to L.A. with a 3 hour layover in Saint Louis.

We boarded the train and saw that there was a group of 4 chairs around a small table on one side, so we decided to take those seats. I took the one closest to the door, Grover sat next to me, Annabeth came next and Zoe sat as far away from me as possible.

I must've been more tired than I felt because as soon as I sat down I didn't want to get up anytime soon.

"Percy." Annbeth said, "You should get some sleep."

"Why?"

"After a major healing like that, you should get some rest."

"So should thee." Zoe said.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth asked.

"Both of you plus the Satyr need to rest, as both of thee were healed and thy satyr used a lot of magic, both of which are taxing to thee." Zoe said.

"But who will keep watch?" Annabeth asked.

"I will." Zoe said.

"But..." Annabeth tried to protest.

"Thou art no good to us if thou art tired. Rest!" Zoe insisted.

"Fine." Annabeth muttered.

After a few minutes both she and Grover were asleep.

I didn't want to sleep, as I didn't want to have anymore strange dreams, but still I fell asleep.

And I had another dream.

In my dream I saw 2 camp fires, with a bunch of people sitting around them. Around one of them sat the hunters, and the other one, well they looked like military but their uniforms didn't match each other very well. So I assumed that they were freelancers.

I looked around and saw Drako sitting away from everyone else, looking at something in his hand. I moved over and took a look at what he was holding. I saw two black and white photos. The first picture had a bunch of army guys standing in front of a weird looking boat, that looked like a big box with a door on the front. They were all smiling, and one of them looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. The other picture also showed a bunch of army guys, but they were standing in front of a blown up tank with a black cross on the side. There was one guy from the first photo that was also in the second photo, and he was the only one that wasn't smiling. One of the other guys in the second photo was one of the freelancers that I had just seen at the campfire. But how? The photo looked like a few hundred years old, these guys can't live for that long, right?

Drako sighed as he looked at the first picture. "I wish things could have been different." He muttered to himself. "I wish..." He faltered for a moment. "I wish we didnt have to go charging up that beach."

Somebody called his name, and he quickly folded the pictures and put them in his pocket. He started to turn around, and the dream faded.

I thought I was waking up, but realized I was still dreaming. I was standing in the boat, and saw the same guys that were in the picture standing around me. I felt nervous and scared, but I didn't know why. And when I looked around everybody else looked just as scared or even more so than I felt. Some kept looking at me hopefully like I was their saviour.

"What's the plan Lt.?" The person to my left asked me, and everyone looked at me.

"Alright." I shouted, but it wasn't me shouting, it wasn't my voice."Listen up. Stick to the plan, stay low, be fast, and what ever you do, do not stop until you reach the shingles. Period!"

"Stay together, and keep each other alive, and let's give the Jerries Hades."

Everyone cheered, and for a moment it sounded awesome. But afterwards everything went quiet.

And that's when all Hades broke loose. I heard a whistling noise, and yelled "Get down!".

Suddenly, all I could hear was the noise of explosions and gunfire, and could hardly hear myself yell,

"Everyone check your weapons and be ready to go as soon as the door drops!". The boat came to an abrupt stop, and as soon as the door opened the two guys in front of me got shot. I ended up getting blood on me, but I manged to yell at everyone else, "Over the side, get over the side!".

I jumped over the side of the boat and immediately an explosion blew me over. I was disoriented, my ears were ringing, and I had no idea what was going on. The dream kept on flashing to different scenes, lots of flashing lights, and the sounds of explosions. I finally made it behind a metal barb.

Then the dream changed. It was a nightmare that made me wish I had never even gone to sleep. In my dream I was on Half-Blood Hill, but something didn't seem right. There was this orange glow coming from the other side of the hill, and a strong smell of smoke. I ran to the other side and the whole camp was on fire. Every single building was burning! I ran into the camp hoping to find survivors, and when I got down there I could see a body. I ran towards it hoping that they were still alive. But when I arrived, I froze. It was my mother! Her clothes were torn and her eyes were lifeless. I knew that I must have failed my quest, and my mom was dead because of it. Her body shimmered and was replaced by Grover's body, then Annabeths body, and all of my friends appeared in turn, dead in front of me.

This can't be real, I thought.

But then a harsh raspy voice said to me. "What if it is real?"

I began to repeat "This isnt real, its only a dream."

The voice laughed. "Your mother is dead fool! You failed both her, and your friends."

"I want my mom." I cried, at which the harsh laughter continued.

"No!" I repeated, "This isn't real!"

The voice laughed again. "We will see."

Next, a bright flash went off beside me and I looked to see what it was. It was Gabe, and he said. "See kid? I told you that you were nothing more than a stupid worthless brat."

"Your first quest, and you already failed." He began to laugh at me, and the raspy voice began to join him.

I was crying in fear and frustration, when I heard a voice off to my left call "Percy?" It sounded like my mom. Both voices stopped laughing. Gabe looked scared; he began to fade and then he was gone. I looked around and camp Half-Blood was also gone.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see a human shape that I thought was my mom.

"Percy?" the figure said again. "Why don't you give your mother a hug?"

I hugged her and cried into her shoulder. She began to caress my head and whispered, "Everything is going to be alright." into my ear. I buried my face even deeper into her shoulder, and I got the hints of coffee, and fresh pine trees. "It will be fine." she said. But this time it sounded less like my mom, and more like Zoe.

My dream faded, and next thing I was aware of was someone shaking me awake.

"Percy, wake up." It sounded like Annabeth's voice.

"Come on seaweed brain, get up." Yup, definitely Annabeth.

"Where, Where are we?" I asked.

"St. Louis.", she replied.

"Why are we here?' I asked.

"Because we have a 3 hour layover." Grover answered.

"Lets go see the Arch." Annabeth said excitedly.

"The what?" I asked

She rolled her eyes at me. "You know, the St Louis Arch?"

I had no idea what she was talking about.

"It's an absolute incredible wonder of engineering" She said.

"And why are we going to see it?" I asked.

"Because I want to"

"Okay" I responded. I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

She looked angry now. "Oh? So I'm not allowed to go see something that I've wanted to see for years, because you don't want to?"

"That's not what I -" I tried to say, but she interrupted me.

"It's rude to interrupt!" She said angrily.

I looked at Grover for help but he chose to ignore me. I looked at Zoe but she refused to look me in the eye.

Annabeth rambled on and on about how come it was never her decision, and how come she was never asked for input. It wasn't until she said that it should be her quest that I lost it.

"Enough!" I said.

She looked at me startled.

"If you want to go see this arch so badly, then why don't you just go to it?" I asked her

"Well I..." she stammered.

"It is my mom we are trying to rescue, and it's my name we are trying to clear, not yours. This quest was given to me. And if I fail I die, and so will my mom" I responded angrily. And so will everyone else I thought.

"Have done with this childishness!" Zoe said.

"Thou art being stupid. Both of thee."

"Now both of thee will apologize, and thou shall move on."

we both started to protest, but a quick glare from Zoe made us stop.

"Percy, I am sorry, I shouldn't have said what I said." Annabeth said to me.

"I'm sorry I got mad at you too. I know that you have wanted to lead your own quest and that you have always wanted to be an architect. So I apologize for tramping on your dreams.", I replied. Then, speaking to everyone I said, "I think we should check out the Arch."

Annabeth gave me a strange look.

Grover looked like he was in shock.

Zoe looked like she had a small smile, but when she saw me looking at her she scowled and glared at me.

"But why, Percy?" Annabeth asked.

Zoe and Grover both looked at me, as if waiting for my answer.

I thought about how to answer her question, why was I doing this for her?

"Because,... because I want at least someone to have fun on this quest."

"And also, I never get to do what I want, and I don't want to do that to you."

Annabeth then did something I did not expect her to do, she hugged me and said, "Thank you!".

Grover looked shocked, again. And Zoe, had an interesting look on her face, like she was annoyed at the situation and something else, a complex expression I didn't catch.

As we were working our way over to the St. Louis Arch, Annabeth kept on talking about the specifications of the Arch, when it was built, how tall it was and on and on.

I wasn't really hearing what she was saying.

I was happy to find out that to get into the Arch they had an elevator, but as we got on we noticed that there was an old lady with a chihuahua. "No parents?" the old lady asked.

Zoe was looking at her with a calculating expression.

"Afraid of heights" Annabeth said to her.

"Oh the poor dears."

Bark Bark, the chihuahua barked at me.

"Not now sonny.", the old lady said.

"Is the dog's name sonny?" I asked.

"No" She replied, and when she smiled I saw a forked tongue. Wait, forked tongue?

Before I could confirm what I had seen. The chihuahua barked at me again.

"You want to do this now? In front of all these nice people?" The old lady said.

At this I was really confused, as were Annabeth and Grover. When I looked at Zoe she seemed nervous, and tense.

We made it to the top and Annabeth once again started talking about the architecture of the archway, and how she would have built in a glass floor.

I was going to follow them when Zoe grabbed my arm, and said. "Keep an eye on her."

and she made a gesture to the old lady.

"Why?" I asked.

She glared at me "Just trust me.", she said.

The chihuahua started barking at me again.

The old lady smiled at me.

I unconsciously pulled Riptide out of my pocket.

One of the rangers said "Observation deck will be closing in 5 minutes"

We made our way to the elevator, Grover, Zoe and Annabeth entered, I tried to enter, but noticed that the car was full. "Next car sir.", one of the rangers told me.

Grover shared a nervous glance with Annabeth. While Zoe stared at me.

"We can wait" Annabeth said.

"Go on." I told them. "I'll be fine"

Grover and Annabeth looked worried. But they didn't protest.

So after the door closed there were only a few of us left on the arch. There was a small family with a young kid, a couple of rangers, the old lady and her chihuahua, and me.

The chihuahua started barking at me again.

"Alright, if you insist sonny." The old lady said.

The barking got louder and with each bark the chihuahua grew bigger and bigger until it was the size of a rhino. The barking sounded more like a cannon shot now.

I managed to read the collar, it said, Chimera—Rabid, Fire breathing, Poisonous—If Found, Please call 1-80TARTARUS EXT. 666.

The old lady transformed into a lizard like creature.

"Zeus rarely allows me to test one of my brood against a hero these days.", the old lady cackled.

I heard screaming from behind me and I took a glance and saw that one of the rangers was standing in front of the family and the other one was trying to get the emergency door open.

I moved over a bit and stood in the middle of the walkway, thereby putting myself between the monster and the mortals.

"And who are you?" I asked.

"I am the mighty Echidna" she howled.

"Isn't that a kind of ant eater?" I asked.

She howled at this. "I hate Australia for naming that stupid animal after me!",

"For that my son, the Chimera will destroy you!".

The Chimera's maw began to glow, and I jumped out of the way of a column of fire, that went past me and melted a hole in the wall beside the mortals. Great I thought to myself, now I will be wanted for torching a national monument.

The mortals began to scream even louder. I had to protect them, so I charged and swung my sword, but it glanced off the collar, and before I could block it, the snake tail bit my leg.

My leg felt like it was on fire, and it was hard to move.

"They don't make heroes like they useD to hey sonny?" Echidna said.

I tried to hit the cChimera again but it swatted away my sword with its paw.

My sword went flying through the hole.

I was now weaponless and dying from poison, I backed up to the hole.

"Go ahead." Echidna snarled. "Jump. If you were really the son of Poseidon, then you wouldn't fear the water."

I didn't know what to think. I could try it, I had nothing to lose.

"Die faithless one." Echidna said.

"Father, help me." I prayed and jumped into the river below.

AN. So good news, i'm not dead yay! And I have brought to you the next chapter (finally)

So if you have any comments/ questions please post them/ Pm me.

If you have any ideas I would love to hear them, just send me a PM.

Also if you would like to submit an OC for the freelancers please feel free to send me a PM, I will make sure that you get full credit for your OC.


	5. Authors note

Authors note

Just a quick note this story is not dead.

I've been struggling with writers bloc, and overall just laziness.

I might start a Warhammer 40K story in the vibe of toyhammer. Please let me know what you think.


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